Mayflower for burning

[Black Knight]

Have you seen this? What a waste;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-devon-49144207/replica-mayflower-built-to-be-burned-in-great-torrington

 

I would think far more money for charity could be raised by letting it out to a theme park company and getting in money from everyone who wants to play pirates for a day

But what do I know, eh?

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Hmm. Carbon footprint and all that 😕

[pigsty]

Before weighing on this you need to know a bit more about where it’s happening.  Great Torrington has been making replicas of famous sites or items and then burning them, for nearly fifty years, as part of the Torrington Cavaliers’ charity work.  It’s been a bit intermittent and there were fears that it might have finished altogether not long ago, so it’s good to see it back for the sake of community spirit as well as the fund-raising.  Past fires have included the Houses of Parliament (bet no-one will object to that) and HMS Victory (no-one did).

 

Also, the Cavaliers were formed as part of the 350th anniversary of the Mayflower, at the Mayor of Plymouth’s invitation, and this fire is fully part of the Mayflower 400 celebration.  Everyone involved knows the score; they know it’s what Torrington is justly famed for doing, and they're happy with it.

 

Carbon footprint: practically neutral.  The trees grow, they absorb carbon dioxide; they're cut down and burned, they release it.

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Those trees would have been partially offsetting emissions generated as a by-product of actually achieving something considered necessary, or even something with longer term enjoyability like an actual ship that floated and could move under sail for some decades rather than creating a massive smoke plume for a few hours. Would the people giving the donations not part with their hard-earned for the cause without starting great big fires? This is the 21st century. Things have moved on a bit over the last 50 years. They'll be getting unwanted attention from the likes of Extinction Rebellion if they're not about to change their ideas.